White Sox Official Wild Card Roster: Tommy Pham? A Surprise Omission, More

The Chicago White Sox have set their playoff roster as they look to take down the Houston Astros in the Wild Card series.

Sep 18, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox designated hitter Tommy Pham (21) celebrates in the dugout after scoring against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Chicago White Sox have made the playoffs for the first time since 2021 and will face the same opponent, the Houston Astros, on Tuesday in the American League Wild Card Series. With only hours to go before the first game, the team officially revealed the roster that manager Will Venable will have to work with.

The White Sox made a surprising decision, going with 14 position players and 12 pitchers on the 26-man playoff roster.

White Sox Wild Card Roster

Pitchers

Huascar Brazobán
Sean Burke
Erick Fedde
Jordan Hicks
Bryan Hudson
Anthony Kay
Davis Martin
Sean Newcomb
David Sandlin
Noah Schultz
Hagen Smith
Grant Taylor

Catchers

Jake Rogers
Kyle Teel

Infielders

Luisangel Acuña
Chase Meidroth
Colson Montgomery
Munetaka Murakami
Miguel Vargas

Outfielders

Sam Antonacci
Andrew Benintendi
Brenton Doyle
Randal Grichuk
Braden Montgomery
Tristan Peters
Tommy Pham

Biggest Surprise

Sep 18, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox designated hitter Tommy Pham (21) celebrates in the dugout after scoring against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Tommy Pham will earn a postseason spot over having an extra pitcher in this series. In 17 at-bats with the White Sox, the 38-year-old veteran slashed .176/.333/.353 with one home run.

It's a bit of a surprise given how little he was used down the stretch. Perhaps against lefties, we will see more of Randal Grichuk in left field and Pham at designated hitter? Either way, this gives the White Sox another impact right-handed bat for this playoff series.

Rookies Noah Schultz and David Sandlin will make the playoff roster after great play down the stretch. While they likely won't start in this series, expect them to get some meaningful innings.

Jake Rogers, despite slashing .103/.239/.179 in 18 games with Chicago, will keep the backup catcher job over Edgar Quero and Drew Romo. If it isn't because of his defense, I'm not sure why else he'd be on the roster. Other than those guys, there are no other surprises regarding who was included. But there was a notable omission!

Biggest Omission

Sep 27, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Trevor Richards (43) delivers the ball during the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Tyler Davis was booted off the roster, as expected. However, Trevor Richards was the other pitcher that the White Sox did not include on their Wild Card roster.

This is quite surprising due to how much he was relied upon during the regular season. In fact, he closed out the last game of the regular season against the Colorado Rockies. In 52 games with Chicago, Richards pitched to a 3.78 ERA in 78.2 innings.

Richards went multiple innings almost every time, and while he was mainly used as a mop-up pitcher, he filled his role very well. When Venable needed someone to help the bullpen rest, Richards was the guy he turned to for multiple innings. If this is the end of Richards' White Sox tenure, it was a good ride.